SF Bay Ferry Ridership Remains High Over Weekend

By Bay City News Service

San Francisco Bay Ferry ridership shot up with the start of the BART strike on Friday and remained high over the weekend, officials said.

While Sunday is usually the lightest day of the week, passenger loads in the morning were nearly double a normal Sunday, spokesman Ernest Sanchez said. Ferries carried 1,920 passengers Sunday morning, Sanchez said.

"We expect to see higher ridership (Monday) than we did on Friday as we believe many commuters opted to work remotely," Sanchez said. "We'll continue to work our plan and operate at an increased capacity through the end of this second BART strike."

On Friday, the first day of the strike, ferry service started early and ferries carried more than double their usual passenger load.

While the system, which includes departures from Oakland, Alameda, San Francisco and Vallejo, would normally carry around 2,694 passengers on an average weekday morning, on Friday it carried 7,150 passengers, officials said.

BART officials have said they do not expect trains to resume service today and commuters are advised to make alternate transportation plans.

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